Tracy Beckerman is Lost in Suburbia and trying to hold onto just a little bit of her former, COOL, pre-mom self!

My Itty Bitty Pity Party

About this blog

Nationally syndicated columnist and author Tracy Beckerman is \x34Lost in Suburbia\x34 ­ managing the chaos with a healthy dose of humor. Her next book, a \x34momoir,\x34 will be published in spring 2013. She contributes to many online mom sites,
...

Nationally syndicated columnist and author Tracy Beckerman is \x34Lost in Suburbia\x34 ­ managing the chaos with a healthy dose of humor. Her next book, a \x34momoir,\x34 will be published in spring 2013. She contributes to many online mom sites, including www.todaysmama.com, www.rolemommy.com and www.newjerseymomsblog.com and is an official blogger for Lifetime Television's hit show, \x34The Balancing Act.\x34 She also does stand-up comedy and has appeared at venues including The Comic Strip Live in NYC and The Erma Bombeck Workshop in Dayton, Ohio. Before she became a columnist, Beckerman was a writer and producer in the television industry for 10 years, managing the advertising & promotion department at WCBS-TV New York. Tracy is married to a very understanding guy. They have two children and live in New Jersey where she writes, does battle with woodchucks and avoids, at all costs, driving a minivan.

Having a birthday on a holiday can either be very cool, or a real drag… depending on the holiday. My brother’s birthday falls on Columbus Day, which doesn’t really affect his celebration at all, except for the fact that the banks and post offices are closed so he can neither cash a check nor get mail on his birthday. This is not such a big deal. The bigger issue is that there are people who, upon learning that he is born on Columbus day, will repeatedly ask him if he came over on the Nina, Pinta, or Santa Maria. This is funny the first, oh, 100 times it happens, but can be pretty annoying after hearing the same stupid joke for forty years. Still, it is not as annoying as the hordes of people who always ask another member of our family who is born on Groundhog Day, if she saw her shadow that morning.

My daughter’s birthday is on the Fourth of July, which is definitely one of the better holidays to have your birthday on. For years she used to think that all the fireworks and celebrations were just for her birthday. The same is true for a friend of mine who was born on New Year’s Day. Everyone is always in a great mood at midnight when she turns a year older. Unfortunately, they are usually surly, sullen, and hungover on her actual birthday the next day.

Then there’s me. I am born on Christmas Eve. Being a Christmas baby sounds like it would be a great thing but it actually has a number of downsides. First there is the inevitable Combo-Gift. This is the lame gift someone will give me that isn’t even a good single occasion gift, and yet they call it a combination x-mas/birthday gift as though that gives it some added importance and value. The truth is, a curling iron is a stinky gift, no matter what you call it… especially when you have extremely short hair.

Then there is the fact that there are very few restaurants that are open on Christmas Eve. When I was growing up, every year we would either have my birthday dinner at a Chinese restaurant or a deli. Is it any wonder that now, as an adult, I crave egg rolls on my birthday?

I don’t really mind that my birthday presents are usually wrapped in x-mas paper, or my birthday cards are often Christmas cards that have “… and Happy Birthday” written in on the bottom. I have gotten used to people at the DMV looking at my driver’s license and, upon seeing my birth date, saying “Oh, you’re a Christmas baby. That must stink.” To which I say, “Not as much as standing here at the DMV having you make stupid comments about my birthday.”

All of this doesn’t really bother me so much. What bothers me about having a birthday on Christmas Eve, is sometimes, I get forgotten. With all the parties, and hoopla, there have been times my birthday has gotten lost in the holiday shuffle. I used to get pretty upset about this but now I use it to my advantage. Sometime after the holidays, someone will say to me, “How was your holiday,” and I will say, “Good… it was my birthday.” Their face will drop and they will apologize profusely for forgetting me and then they will beg for forgiveness and ask, “What would you like for your birthday?’

My new book, “Lost in Suburbia: A Momoir. How I Got Pregnant. Lost Myself, and Got My Cool Back in the New Jersey Suburbs” is now available for PRE-ORDER! Yes, I know it won’t be out for 4 months, but think of how excited you’ll be in anticipation of receiving your copy the moment it comes out!” To pre-order yours, CLICK HERE>